Finding the alignment between DIB’s strategy and Backbase capabilities — together, in two days.
Retail Islamic banking — one domain, full depth
Full presence, devices down — every voice matters
Capture tangential ideas without derailing flow
Strict time management to maximize coverage
Not a presentation — a working session, together
RVP Strategic Customers
Lead Principal Strategy Consultant
Senior Solution Architect
Regional Solutions Lead
Transform DIB into the region’s leading Shariah-compliant digital bank — moving customers from basic access to lifelong financial partnership.
Deliver Shariah-compliant, relationship-centric experiences at scale
Move customers from basic digital access to lifelong partnership, and earn primacy by deepening Shariah-compliant relationships.
“DIB’s path to becoming the region’s leading Shariah-compliant digital bank requires relationship-centric experiences at scale — enabled by an AI-ready, omnichannel operating model.”
Transaction
centric
Basic Shariah-compliant products, one-size-fits-all, limited digital engagement
Relationship
centric
Personalized journeys, Shariah-guided advice, lifecycle-driven engagement across segments
Composable apps configured per segment — Young Professional, Family, Premium, Business Owner, Expat — each with unique features, dashboards, and offers.
AI-driven financial health scoring, Shariah-compliant investment nudges, life event prediction, and proactive advisory through My Priorities framework.
Single workspace for all employee roles — RM, contact center, operations — with 360° customer view, AI-powered next-best-action, and guided workflows.
Shariah-compliant account opening, eKYC via UAE Pass, instant virtual card
Personal & home financing, auto Murabaha, Ijarah, investment access
Daily banking, card controls, disputes, subscriptions, Takaful insurance
Wealth building, Zakat calculator, Waqf, Sukuk investments, financial freedom
Face ID, fingerprint, PIN with Shariah-compliant identity verification
Unified dashboard with Shariah profit rates, pending transactions, balances
P2P, bill pay, international remittance, scheduled payments
Instant virtual card, freeze/unfreeze, spending limits, Apple Pay
Smart search, categorization, receipt scanning, export
Address change, document upload, beneficiary management
Real-time alerts, spending insights, payment reminders
In-app messaging with AI triage, escalation to human agent
Digital Onboarding with Shariah-compliant product selection, UAE Pass connector via Grand Central, real-time decisioning via Intelligence Fabric, instant card provisioning via card management connector. Expected lift: Reduce abandonment by 60%, enable 70% digital origination.
Digital Lending with Shariah product configurator (Murabaha, Ijarah, Tawarruq), pre-qualification engine via Intelligence Fabric, document AI for salary/bank statement extraction, e-signature integration, real-time disbursement via core connector. Expected lift: 50% faster processing, 40% higher digital conversion.
Digital Banking with household entitlements, role-based access (parent/child/spouse), segment-based app composition for family, child account widget with gamification extension, Zakat microservice integration. Expected lift: 2.1x products-per-household, 35% increase in family segment retention.
| # | Use Case | Journey Stage | Type | Priority | Approach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M01 | Effortless Shariah Account Opening | Welcome & Onboard | Differentiating | P1 | OOTB + Config |
| M02 | Instant Shariah-Compliant Financing | Finance & Grow | Differentiating | P1 | OOTB + Extension |
| M03 | Family Financial Hub | Manage & Protect | Differentiating | P1 | Config + Extension |
| M04 | Tailored Segment Experiences | All Stages | Differentiating | P2 | Config |
| M05 | Holistic Shariah Financial Advice | Prosper & Share | Differentiating | P2 | Extension |
| M06 | Smart Card Controls & Disputes | Manage & Protect | Tablestake | P1 | OOTB |
| M07 | International Remittance Hub | Finance & Grow | Tablestake | P2 | OOTB + Config |
| M08 | AI Conversational Banking | All Stages | Differentiating | P2 | Extension |
| M09 | Digital Sukuk & Investment Access | Prosper & Share | Differentiating | P3 | Extension + Custom |
| M10 | Waqf & Charity Management | Prosper & Share | Differentiating | P3 | Extension |
RMs spend 35% of time navigating systems instead of advising clients. 8 systems per client interaction.
Agents toggle 6 systems per call. Average handle time inflated by 2.5 minutes per interaction.
Operations team processes exceptions across 5 systems with manual data re-entry and no audit trail.
Digital Assist with Customer 360 widget, omnichannel journey tracker, event timeline, product holdings summary, AI next-best-action engine via Intelligence Fabric, configurable workspace layouts per role. Expected savings: $2.8M annually in reduced switching tax, 15% AHT reduction.
Digital Assist on-behalf-of lending workflow, pre-qualification check via Intelligence Fabric, guided step-by-step process with compliance guardrails, digital handoff to customer for remaining steps, real-time status tracking. Expected savings: 65% reduction in processing time, 25% increase in financing conversion.
| # | Use Case | Roles | Priority | Approach | Est. Savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E01 | One View, Every Context (360°) | RM, CC Agent | P1 | OOTB + Config | $2.8M/yr |
| E02 | Guided Financing Assist | RM, CC Agent | P1 | Config + Extension | $0.9M/yr |
| E03 | Centralized Case & Workflow | Operations | P2 | OOTB | $0.8M/yr |
| E04 | AI Knowledge Base | All Roles | P2 | Extension | $0.5M/yr |
Features and functionalities available immediately. Low technical lift. Deploy, configure, and go live. Includes: accounts, transactions, cards, payments, transfers, notifications.
Adjust behavior through configuration without code changes. Includes: workflows, UI layouts, entitlements, product parameters, journey steps, branding.
Build custom capabilities using Backbase extension points. Includes: custom widgets, API extensions, integration connectors, specialized workflows.
| Use Case | Type | Classification | Implementation Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Use Cases | |||
| Effortless Shariah Account Opening | P1 | Config | OOTB onboarding journey + configure Shariah declaration step, UAE Pass integration via Grand Central connector, EID auto-fill. Downstream: T24 account creation API, eKYC provider. |
| Instant Shariah-Compliant Financing | P1 | Extend | OOTB lending journey + extend for Murabaha/Ijarah profit-rate calculation widgets, Shariah contract generation. Downstream: T24 Islamic financing module, credit bureau API, document management. |
| Family Financial Hub | P1 | Extend | Custom household aggregation widget, Zakat calculator, family goal tracker built on Backbase widget SDK. Downstream: T24 linked accounts, Shariah calculation engine. |
| Core Digital Banking | Table | OOTB | Out of the box: accounts, balances, transactions, payments, transfers, bill pay, notifications. Configure branding, AR/EN locale. |
| Card Management | Table | OOTB | Out of the box: card overview, freeze/unfreeze, spending limits, PIN change, Apple Pay provisioning. Downstream: Card processor API. |
| Self-Service | Table | Config | OOTB profile management + configure document upload types, beneficiary management rules. Downstream: T24 customer update API. |
| Smart Notifications | Table | Config | OOTB notification engine. Configure alert rules, thresholds, and delivery channels (push, SMS, email). |
| AI Chat & Support | P2 | Extend | Backbase conversation widget + integrate external AI/NLP engine. Train on DIB product catalog and Shariah FAQ. Downstream: AI provider API, CRM ticketing. |
| Segment-Based Apps | P2 | Config | OOTB composable app framework. Configure widget arrangements, entitlements, and feature toggles per segment. |
| Employee Use Cases | |||
| One View, Every Context (360°) | P1 | Config | OOTB Digital Assist customer 360 view. Configure data widgets, product summaries, interaction timeline. Downstream: T24 customer API, CRM, card processor. |
| Guided Financing Assist | P1 | Extend | OOTB assisted lending journey + extend for Shariah product configuration, real-time eligibility check, approval workflow. Downstream: T24 Islamic financing, credit bureau, compliance engine. |
| Case & Task Management | P2 | OOTB | Out of the box: work queues, case lifecycle, SLA tracking, assignment rules. Configure case types and escalation paths. |
| AI Workload Forecasting | P3 | Extend | Custom: integrate Backbase Intelligence Fabric with workforce management. Requires data pipeline + ML model training. |
Mobile (legacy vendor), OLB (separate vendor), branch (core terminals) — no unified experience layer. Each channel is a silo with its own data model.
Point-to-point integrations between T24 core and 14 systems. No API gateway. Changes to one system cascade across multiple integration points.
10 different vendors with overlapping capabilities. 3 separate card management systems. Maintenance cost growing 12% YoY.
Batch processing for most system updates. Real-time data only for core transactions. Customer digital activity not captured in CRM.
Replace 3 separate channel vendors with a single composable experience layer. Web, mobile, and employee screens share the same design system, APIs, and business logic.
Instead of 40+ point-to-point integrations cascading changes, all systems connect through one managed hub. Add or replace systems without breaking others.
70% OOTB capabilities out of the box. Configure for Shariah compliance. Build only what’s truly unique. Micro-frontend architecture for independent deployability.
No centralized API gateway today. Need Grand Central setup with rate limiting, versioning, and developer portal for T24 and ancillary system APIs.
Currently batch-only for most data sync. Need event-driven architecture for real-time notifications, balance updates, and cross-channel context sharing.
Separate authentication for web, mobile, and employee. Need single identity provider with UAE Pass integration, SSO, and role-based access across all channels.
Customer data scattered across T24, CRM, and channel databases. Need unified customer profile accessible via API for 360° view and personalization.
From “spaghetti” to a composable, real-time ecosystem — Backbase sits between customers/employees and systems of record.
Roadmapping focuses on 3 levers: Business Value (ROI), Ease of Implementation, and Customer Value.
Backbase’s Adopt & Connect methodology accelerates time-to-value by starting with what works out of the box, then extending for your unique needs.
Platform provisioning
Architecture setup
Stakeholder alignment
Design sprint
OOTB capabilities
Mobile + Web apps
Core integrations
Grand Central setup
Shariah config
Custom journeys
Segment apps
Employee workspaces
Friends & Family
UAT & hardening
Production go-live
Rollout & support
Backbase’s methodology starts with what works out of the box, then connects to your existing systems through managed connectors. This inverts the traditional “build from scratch” approach.
Backbase + DIB engineers work side-by-side. Knowledge transfer is built into delivery, not bolted on.
Fortnightly demos to stakeholders. Continuous feedback loop. No surprises at go-live.
Monthly executive alignment. Scope, risk, and value tracking with clear escalation paths.
Backbase handles infrastructure, security patching, and SLA management. DIB focuses on business outcomes.
Validated 4 strategic themes, 6 technology objectives. North Star: Shariah-compliant digital leadership.
14 total use cases identified. 5 P1 priorities with live prototypes demonstrated.
70% OOTB/Config capability. Shariah extensions well-defined.
Grand Central replaces P2P spaghetti. T24 integration via managed connectors.
Value-driven scatter plot. 3-phase roadmap: Foundation → Relationship → Intelligence.
Adopt & Connect. F&F Live Q1 2027. 30-week total Phase 1 timeline.
| # | Decision | Options | DIB Owner | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phase 1 scope guardrails | Mobile-first vs. Web+Mobile simultaneous | Head of Digital | High |
| 2 | Identity strategy | UAE Pass only vs. UAE Pass + existing authentication | CISO | High |
| 3 | Cloud deployment model | Backbase Managed Hosting vs. DIB Private Cloud | CTO | Medium |
| 4 | Shariah product prioritization | Savings first vs. Financing first | Head of Islamic Banking | Medium |